Warriors: The Final Prophecy: Return To The Forest
by BrambleStar14
Summary: Set at the very end of the warriors timeline, the final prophecy is sent from StarClan, but will the clans survive, or be destroyed forever by the ultimate evil?
1. Prologue

Prologue

Fire! The clearing around him was filled with fire and the yowls of battling cats. He looked around in horror and recoiled as one fighting pair rolled past, hissing and snarling at each other. He watched in horror as a gap appeared in the snarling warriors and saw a small circular area in all the fighting. He ran forwards and saw a huge ginger tom with green eyes being held down by a huge tabby with amber eyes that looked down at his victim with a victorious glare and the fighting broke off as all the fighting cats saw the two in the centre. And the tabby tom looked down; and slashed the ginger one across the throat. Blood flashed from the wound like a knife and the ginger cat convulsed. He ran forwards towards the ginger cat in horror. He wouldn't wish this death on any cat, but he ran forwards because he knew this cat. He ran and ran but the more he ran, the further away he seemed to become. Then, a white light started to fill his vision. He just had time to shout to the ginger tom before he woke. "RUSTY! NOOOOOO!"

The stars of silverpelt shone brightly through what was left of the forest. They illuminated the small area of twoleg space on the edge of the forest and their gaze seemed to fall upon the cat that stepped out of his house and jumped up onto the fence. His black and white fur blew about slightly as though in a breeze, but there was no wind tonight. He looked out across into the trees ahead, his tail twitching slightly in anxiety. He knew his dream wasn't real. It couldn't be real. Not that. Not Rusty. Rusty couldn't be dead. And who was that massive tabby who had killed him?

He looked up at silverpelt as though looking for answers, but not expecting to find any. Instead, what he saw amazed him. The stars above were _moving_! He looked on in shock as they formed the image of a great cat above him. Then the stars making up this picture began to spiral downwards towards him. The image of the great cat growing smaller and smaller, but never changing. Finally the image was in front of him, still made up of stars but the same size as him. And out of the shape, walked a cat. Not just any cat, this she-cat was beautiful. He stared in awe as she gracefully walked towards him. He jumped down of his fence to get a better look at her. She was lithe, with a dappled brown and orange tortoiseshell coat. She had a nice looking dark patch of fur around one eye, and a white muzzle and chest.

She smiled at him as he walked towards her, but something about her radiated power. He sat down in front of her and he tilted his head to one side as he noticed the tiny stars that covered her entire body. "Hello," she said in a friendly way. "Hello," he replied nervously. The she-cat was watching him interestedly. "Do you know Rusty?" he asked suddenly. "Is he really dead? Was my dream real, or was it just a nightmare? Can you help-" He broke off. She was smiling as she placed a paw over his muzzle and said, still smiling "hush, young one. Whether that dream was real or not, I cannot say. But it is certainly something that might be coming. As for your first question, yes, I knew Rusty very well in the short time that I knew him" Her smile had gone and her head drooped slightly. She carried on in a slightly bitter voice "I just wish that I'd known him better..." She broke off, shook her head and when she looked at him again, her smile was back. "But Rusty isn't why I am here. You are!" She looked him up and down and evidently saw something that she liked, for she grinned up at the stars above and said, "My my, StarClan do choose cats well" Laughing, she turned back to him. "The reason that I have come here is to deliver something to you" "To... ME?" He spluttered in utter shock, "but, why me?" She looked at him, as though seeing how much to tell him. "Because your destiny will only truly start to be realised after tonight. You will realise that you can be a great fighter, a noble leader and a truly loyal friend"

He stared at her in shock but before he could ask any of the hundreds of questions rushing through his confused mind the she-cat suddenly went rigid, her eyes staring, her mouth open wide. He looked at her and mewed in a scared tone. He reached up to see if she was ok but before he could touch her, she moved again, collapsing onto the ground. "Are you ok?" he mewed in utter shock. She stared at him as though seeing him for the first time. "StarClan can't stop it" she muttered. "StarClan have sent me a prophecy young one. Two prophecies actually. The first is this:" suddenly she was speaking in an echoing voice that he could hear from 4 different directions, then he realised that she was speaking to him _inside his mind!_ "StarClan cannot stop what will come; only a warrior born of the dark can finish the fight." He shivered slightly as there was a pause, then she spoke again. "StarClan itself cannot stop the death that is descending over the clans. 9 will fight in the forest and the lake. Friends will become foe and foe will become friend and both shall return. The cost will be many, but the dark cannot be stopped unless a terrible sacrifice is made" the voice stopped and the she-cat shook her head violently, and then spoke normally to him again. "That was the final prophecy of StarClan. Whatever happens now, the clans will either live, or die. And all this hinges on one cat."

She turned away and began to walk away from him. He shouted after her "but what does all of this have to do with me?" She looked over her shoulder with amusement in her eyes. "That is for you to find out young one. I have done all I can; now it's your turn" She stepped into the starry outline and the silhouette flew back up into the stars and vanished.

And Smudge, was left to look up into the darkness.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Firestar's eyes; snapped open. He lay shivering in his nest, feeling horror course through him, but not remembering why. He had had a strange dream, but why couldn't he remember it? He looked at the cold stone walls around him for inspiration, but felt nothing but a chill as a soft breeze blew through the tendrils covering the entrance to his leader den. He thought long and hard and at last one small detail came to him: it had been about a huge battle. There had been death, and there had also been pain and a familiar voice. But he couldn't remember and as hard as he tried, the details were trickling away.

He got up and stretched out. As he left his den he saw the first rays of the sun breaking through the layers of bramble hung over the ravine that the ThunderClan camp was placed in. He passed the fresh-kill pile without taking anything for himself- the clan had to be fed first. He passed the guards at the entrance- today it was Thornclaw, a large gold-brown tom; and his deputy, Brambleclaw, a dark brown tabby tom with piercing amber eyes. As he passed he signalled them with a flick of his tail to follow him. They understood and started after him into the trees. He noticed Brambleclaw looked like he was about to say something, but then stopped. He wondered what he had been about to say.

"Has anyone approached the camp?" he asked. "No Firestar. It was so silent you would think we were the only things alive in the whole forest" replied Thornclaw. That wasn't surprising. Thornclaw was always willing to please him. Brambleclaw just nodded and turned back to his post. He didn't say much but Firestar had seen with his own eyes several times proof that Brambleclaw was one of the most loyal clan cats ever. But one of the most ambitious? Maybe. "We need more fresh-kill. Our pile is becoming critically low" Firestar said. They both nodded and headed off into the undergrowth. Once again Firestar had to marvel at how far they had all come since being the tiny kits he remembered visiting in the nursery. He went in a different direction to the others and scented a magpie nearby. He stalked forwards, preparing to pounce when...

WHAM! From out of the darkness pelted something large and brown and the next moment he was being pinned down with a claw at his throat. "Get out of our territory now INTRUDER" hissed a voice next to his ear. Recognising the voice, he tilted his body and kicked out, sending his attacker flying. He turned and stared at his attacker in astonishment.

Brambleclaw?


	3. Chapter 2

**Hey everyone, Bramblestar14 here. Sorry about the long gap between chapters, I've had a lot on recently, with modern warfare 3 and a GCSE test, so I haven't really had time to upload this. And the fact that im planning around another 5 books, but you can see that on my bio. I've had mixed reviews. Lots of people want more, so I will give you more. I have also been asked about length. Im an idiot for even attempting this, but I want to write 6 full length warrior cats books. Well, enough from me, on with the story...**

Chapter 2

Brambleclaw hissed at the intruder with murder in his eyes. He had no idea what this rouge cat was doing on their territory, but he didn't care. All that mattered was that he WAS on their territory. He stared at the cat. It was filthy; it had obviously walked into a lot of mud without noticing as it was all brown. The mud was masking its scent, so he could not tell whether it was either an enemy cat form a different clan, a rouge or a kittypet.

He ran forward, hissing madly. But the other cat was ready and spun away, also spitting. There was something else in the cats eyes apart from anger. Was there recognition there? But Brambleclaw didn't have time to think, for the cat was now jumping at him. He rolled to one side and lashed out, hitting his opponent in the head. But the cat came straight back, lashing out at him. As he tried to duck, the intruder changed in midair and barrel-rolled over him, sending him flying into a nearby tree.

He got up, blood coming from a gash on his head, and was confused. That was a ThunderClan move. Was this cat possibly an exile, or a long lost friend. And then the cat spoke, and Brambleclaw was filled with a sense of dread, for he recognised that voice. It was the voice ofhis leader, Firestar, who Brambleclaw himself had walked with away from camp. He mewed, very tentatively, "F-F-Firestar?"

Firestar let out a sigh of relief and Brambleclaw realised that Firestar was more exasperated then angry. "Well, I now know for sure that I taught you well," Firestar said as he shook the mud off himself, "those were some impressive moves". Brambleclaw was curious. "So was that all a test" he asked, which got a laugh from Firestar. "No, I must have walked through the mud without noticing and you attacked me. Well done. I've been distracted today, sorry" Firestar mumbled something else about "bad dreams", which made Brambleclaw stop dead. He had had a bad dream the previous night as well. Something about fire and a battle. He had been about to ask Firestar about it earlier, but hadn't known what to say.

But he didn't want to worry Firestar, so instead he mewed jokingly, "maybe Jayfeather should give you some poppy seeds" to which Firestar, realising he had heard about the dreams, laughed. Suddenly, they heard paws coming towards them and both unsheathed their claws. But it was just Thornclaw, coming back with a large piece of fresh-kill in his jaws. "Come on" he mewed enthusiastically "lets go back before we give them all a heart attack from worry". As they headed off, Firestar pulled Brambleclaw to one side and said "About the dreams, well, these were just some wierd dreams. I've had stranger, they just felt like the future. Something about fire and a battle"

**Ooooh, a cliffhanger! Sorry about the short chapter last time, im trying to make them longer so you guys can enjoy them more. And to make them more like the books. If you liked this or didn't, or have any queries or correction, review and i will try to give all people credit in the next one as well as answer all of your questions. I will try to upload a new chapter every Saturday so stay tuned.**

**Challenge of the chapter: 5 reviews for a reveal on who the strange StarClan cat in the prologue was.**


	4. Chapter 3

**Hey guys, Merry 2012! Well, I guess I owe you all an apology. I did say I would try and upload a new chapter every Saturday, but as you all know, I haven't. I will try to make up for this and release larger chapters more often. Just to clear up a review about if I will "kill off Firestar and make Smudge into Smudgestar", even if I kill off firestar, it would be very unlikely that Smudge would be the new leader. But this is warriors and anything can happen, but I will say that Smudge WILL meet his destiny. Have some guesses as to what that might be and I'll check 'em out. Most imaginative one wins a prize. I will also add in some new characters and kits as I WILL kill off some regulars. I practically know that Erin Hunter will kill off quite a few cats in "The Last Hope" as it is her last one, so I WILL be sending the characters off my way as well, to give them a proper sendoff. I'll throw in a few pairings as well. That will have something to do with this chapters challenge! Well, enough from me! Bring on the next chapter!**

**Chapter 3**

Firestar padded back to camp slowly, thinking hard. He was worried. Very worried. Mind you, it didn't take much to get Firestar worried nowadays. Jayfeather, Lionblaze and Dovewing may have been the three who banished the dark forest several moons ago, but he still hadn't forgotten Tigerstar's parting words.

He closed his eyes as that voice hissed through his mind again: "This isn't over Firestar. There are greater powers then StarClan at work here. So you better watch your back, because one day you won't be looking, and then: you're crowfood." He shivered. They were the same words that Tigerstar had said as he was exiled from ThunderClan all those years ago. He cast his mind back to that battle. It had been ferocious. Many good cats had died that day. Rainwhisker, Tallpoppy and Toadstep were some of the many dying cats that Firestar had seen that day as he walked through the battlefield. Tigerstar had attempted to use apprentices that the Dark Forest had been training for a while against the clans in a heated battle. However, the apprentices stuck to their clans and the Dark Forest cats were beaten back to their domain.

Tigerstar had fled, chased by Firestar, Brambleclaw, Sandstorm, Cloudtail and The Three. He had injured all of the warriors except Cloudtail, who had thrown himself at Tigerstar in a last ditch attmpt to stop him. Tigerstar had thrown him aside like a twoleg toy. Just as he was about to kill Firestar, The Three arrived and fulfilled the prophecy, dragging him back to the depths of The Dark Forest. Firestar had heard nothing from him since that point, but was still worried by those parting words. Just what was the power greater then StarClan? And how was Tigerstar planning to return, when The Three had sealed the portal, giving up their powers in the process? Whatever the case, he decided, he would be ready!

But still, at the back of his mind, some nagging doubt remained in the back of his mind as he entered the camp and saw the familiar facing all across the clearing. He walked past the new guards, Dustpelt and Swiftpaw and nodded as he walked past. Dustpelt gave him a friendly blink, while Swiftpaw solemnly nodded at him. Firestar fought back a grin as he walked past. Swiftpaw had only become Dustpelt's apprentice 1 moon ago and he was already trying to act like a senior warrior. He was black with white spots with leafy green eyes that always seemed to glow as though he had thought of some new way to make his mentor proud. He was the only surviving kit in his litter.

As Firestar's mind was fixated on Swiftpaw, he unconsciously sought out Brightheart, Swiftpaw's mother. As he watched, he saw Cloudtail walk sleepily out of the warriors den into the sunlight blinking and start to share tongues with her. He thought sadly of their latest litter and of their horror when the kits were born, but didn't move or mew. They had been born dead, never to open their eyes except in StarClan. So imagine their surprise when one of the kits suddenly opened his eyes and started to mew happily, twisting and writhing happily. Brightheart had named him after Swiftpaw, her good friend from her own apprentice days as she said her kit had exactly the same kind of hyperactive energy. Firestar had paired him up with Dustpelt to tame some of that wild nature.

It hadn't worked. Swiftpaw was still hyperactive whenever he could be, although he was becoming more and more mature as he grew up. But Firestar remembered the time he had caught Swiftpaw playing with kits behind the nursery. As he entered his den, Firestar pulled his mind away from matters such as apprentices and dragged it back to his dream. He couldn't remember much, even though it had been so vivid. A voice he hadn't recognised had whispered something in his ear, a prophecy it sounded like. But the more he tried to remember it, the more it slipped away. And how stupid could he have been, to let himself get coated in that mud and mask his scent. No wonder Brambleclaw had attacked him. Firestar would certainly have attacked a cat looking like that, back when he was Fireheart, deputy of ThunderClan.

He settled himself down in his nest and sighed, thinking that perhaps another sleep would help take his mind of the dream and the fact that Brambleclaw seemed to have had the same one. The dream would no doubt become clear over time. These messages from StarClan always did in the end. His eyes shot open and he darted upward into a sitting position. _What if the dream wasn't from StarClan? _Instantly, a memory of a voice whispered in his mind "There are powers greater then StarClan at work here". He shivered, suddenly not feeling like sleeping. He got up and walked outside. He looked around camp. The fresh kill pile was big, the apprentices were growing and the kits were nearing 6 moons.

He looked over to a spot near the warriors den, where Brambleclaw was sharing tongues with Brackenfur, a senior warrior. As he watched, he saw a flash of orange as his daughter, Squirelflight timidly walked up to Brambleclaw and asked him something. Firestar winced as he saw Brambleclaw give what looked like a harsh responce and walk away. Firestar decided enough was enough. He got up and walked to the medicine cat den. Inside the main area as Jayfeather, Firestar's blind grandson and one of The Three, piling and ordering herbs. Jayfeather seemed to be the only one who actually had kept some of his powers after the banishment of The Dark Forest. He had even gained some new power, he seemed to be able to see what was going on around him in a 360 degree angle. As he walked past, Jayfeather lifted his head and looked at Firestar through blue eyes that had no pupils. "She's in the back Firestar" he said, before turning back to the herbs. Firestar didn't even bother asking. Was he that easy to read nowadays, or was it just Jayfeather doing his usual creepy power thing again. As he entered the small cave with a pool in it at the back, he saw a cat hunched over the water, staring into it.

"Leafpool?" he asked. Leafpool jumped and turned around so fast, Firestar was surprised that she hadn't clicked her neck. "Firestar," she said happily "what can I do for you?" Firestar looked at her, then told her about Brambleclaw still not talking to Squirelflight. Leafpool promised she would talk to Brambleclaw, then walked out. Firestar stared into the water for a second, thinking he could see Leafpool's reflection still there, looking sad, then he turned around and left the medicine cat den. He watched from the shadows as Leafpool walked over to Brambleclaw and started talking to him in a low voice. Brackenfur, taking the hint, wandered off to talk with Ferncloud, who was watching her LATEST litter of kits play out in the sunlight for the first time. Brambleclaw didn't say anything as Leafpool talked, just sat there and listened. When she had finished, she waited, but Brambleclaw didn't say anything. When she finally touched his shoulder with her tail, he jerked to life, saying something then hurriedly walking out of camp. Leafpool jerked her head and Squirelflight, taking the hint, followed Brambleclaw out of the camp at a run to catch him up.

Firestar sat back and watched as Sandstorm, his beloved mate started to walk over to him. Prey was good, Brambleclaw might finally forgive Squirelflight and there were no obvious problems from the Dark Forest. He smiled contentedly. What could possibly spoil his good mood.

His question was answered almost at once. A streak of gold suddenly shot into camp, shouting his name over and over again. As he jumped up and watched, Lionblaze skidded to a halt in the middle of camp, panting heard. Cats all around the clearing started to mutter, worrying or wondering what could be going on to cause this. Lionblaze stopped panting and, with the eyes of all the cats in the clearing upon him, looked up at Firestar. "River-Riv-" he stuttered panting, eyes wide. Firestar stood up. Was that shock in Lionblaze's eyes? What could possibly shock Lionblaze so much that he couldn't speak properly? "River Clan is attacking-" Lionblaze started but before he could finish, cats were shrieking and shouting. "Why would Riverclan attack us?" Daisy called fearfully". "When can we shred them?" shouted Cloudtail, his tail whipping from side to side. "Will WindClan help us?" called out Brackenfur reasonably. "SILENCE" shouted Firestar, and every cat fell silent at once. "Let him finish" Firestar said in a lower voice. "RiverClan is attacking ShadowClan while I was patrolling" Lionblaze said. He took a deep breath and added "And Firestar, it's about Blackstar: He was asking for you to help!"

**DunDunDun! CLIFFIE! Well, ok I know it isn't much of a cliffie, but I tried and I wanted to finish it with an attack so I thought Blackstar would finally ask for a kittypet's help. So basically, that was my latest chapter, I told you I was trying to make them longer. For the 95% of you staring at this chapter wondering if you missed 47 chapters or something, this was my attempt at guessing Erin Hunter's plot. I wanted to finish the timeline, so I had to finish the whole "three of three who defeat the evil" prophecy and finish the Power Of Three to Omen Of Stars arc. I hope you like my first OC I've added in. I wasn't going to add one in this early, so I was surprised to find myself typing that. Swiftpaw wasn't even one of my planned OC. Oh well, I hope you like him and I hope that you didn't think that I focused too much of the chapter on him. So anyway, I definitely will be adding chapters on a weekly basis now, consider THAT my new years resolution! See you all soon.**

**Oh and BTW, this Chapter Challenge is as follows: 20 reviews for a reveal on who the StarClan cat was in the proglouge and for a reveal on one of my pairings. The most imaginative will win a secret prize. This kind of challenge will continue every chapter. See you guys on Saturday!**

**BrambleStar14**

**PS: For a bit of New Year fun I've included the original plan I had for this chapter so you all can see the bare bones of one of my chapters!**

Plan- Firestar pov

Details- return to camp

Firestar worried

Shakes it off

Sees angry brambleclaw to squirellflight

Talks to leafpool

She tries to talk to bc

He thinks, doesn't say a thing and walks off

Squirellflight follows

Lionblaze runs in saying riverclan is attacking shadowclan

And they have asked for FIRESTARS help!


End file.
